IVF Success Rates: Number of Embryos Transferred Low; Pregnancy Rates High at RHS

Since Reproductive Health Specialists’ inception in 2000, the practice has become one of the most successful IVF fertility centers is the U.S.  By focusing on higher pregnancy rates with fewer embryos per embryo transfer, Dr. Judith Albert and Dr. Carolyn Kubik have been able to significantly lower the rate of multiple births at RHS and, as a result, are redefining infertility treatment in the Western Pa region.

Multiple births — triplets and higher in particular — are more often associated with adverse outcomes like premature births and low birth rates. Maternal problems resulting from multiple births include increased risk of gestational diabetes, high blood pressure and pre-eclampsia.

Reducing Multiple Births

In responding to these types of concerns, Drs. Albert and Kubik are committed to reducing the number of embryos transferred in an attempt to lower multiple birth rates while maintaining high overall pregnancy rates. 

“As embryo culture techniques and embryo assessment techniques have improved, the ability to reduce the number of embryos transferred and still maintain reasonable pregnancy rates has improved dramatically,” Dr. Albert said on the topic.

Additionally, the doctors found that single embryo transfers are a good option for some patients, particularly for those at higher risk of conceiving twins. In single embryo transfers one embryo is transferred after in vitro fertilization.

Is a Single Embryo Transfer Right for You?

Not all couples are candidates for a single embryo transfer, and patient selection is very important in achieving the goal of high pregnancy rates with low multiple pregnancy rates. Women who are over 37 years of age, who have failed to conceive after several IVF cycles, or who don’t produce embryos with certain characteristics will not conceive as easily when only one embryo is transferred.

The charts on this page demonstrate that RHS has achieved high pregnancy rates while keeping the number of embryos transferred low.

Because of a number of factors that cannot be accounted for by program statistics alone, comparison of different programs based on statistics is not recommended.

Note: Ongoing pregnancy is defined as any patient that has been released from our practice for obstetrical care. Data is inclusive of patients undergoing IVF and/or ICSI. Donor Egg Cycles are not reflected in this chart. “n” refers to the total number of patients who had embryo transfers during a given time frame.